Across The Universe
by pixelsurgeon
Summary: Anything could change their world at any given second, but she didn't care. She just wanted to stay in his arms forever. AU for 2x10.


**A/N: **So this is if Walter had died in 2x10. Warning: It's a bit random and jumps around a bit, but I hope you enjoy it anyways. I don't own Fringe.

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"I'm so sorry," she says, crouching next to him and trying to touch his shoulder. He jerks away .

"Does that _help_, Olivia?" he asks, his voice raw from crying. He doesn't turn to her, which she takes as a bad sign.

"No, Peter, really. I am," Olivia says, tears starting to choke her a bit. She hasn't seen Walter's body, Peter's done a good job of shielding it, but she knows it's there.

"For years I didn't care. In fact, I almost wanted him dead just so I could stop wondering about him. But you…"

He breaks off, stifling a sob. "You reunited us. You _made_ me care. That's sick, Liv, it's really sick. Make me care about my father and then let him die."

"I just thought-"

"I know what you thought. I know you thought that imprisoning the frozen head man was more important than saving the life of a man who cared deeply for you."

"I cared about Walter too, you know I-"

"I don't know anything right now, Agent Dunham, and I suggest you leave," Peter says, finally turning to Olivia.

His eyes are bloodshot and there are streaks down his face, like she expected.

"I'm not going to leave you," she says.

His eyes narrow a bit. "Why do you care?"

"I don't know what you don't understand here, Peter. I cared about Walter and I care about you." Then she finally starts crying. She's not sobbing, she's actually keeping her breathing very level.

Peter's hand raises, like he's going to try and comfort her, but he drops it midway.

"Let's put it this way," Peter says. "You chose a frozen head over my father. You killed my father, Olivia Dunham. How am I ever going to be able to look you in the eye again?"

Peter's raising off of his knees to crouch, like he's ready for a fight. He's angry, Olivia can understand that.

"Just calm down," she says.

"Calm down? _Calm down?_ What the hell's wrong with you? So you shot your stepfather. You know, other people care about their paternal figures."

"I know," she says, just trying to pacify him now. She's seen the bruises he gives other people and she doesn't want to get hit. "I know that it hurts a lot, but you just have to stay calm. Just take deep breaths."

"Would you at least have the decency to bring me something to drink?" he asks her, visibly not calming down.

"Sure," she says, finding the kitchen. She fills a glass with tapwater and brings it back to where Peter's singing softly. "Across the Universe?" she asks him.

He nods.

"One of Walter's favorite songs to play when he was whacked on LSD," he says.

She sets the glass down next to him and sits.

"Water?" Peter asks. "Really, Olivia?"

"Oh, sorry," she says, starting to get up, but he holds a hand out to stop her.

"It's fine," he says.

They sit in silence for a while, Peter's hostility towards Olivia ebbing and fading by the second.

"I think I'm going to leave," Peter tells her.

"Leave?"

"Yeah, you know. Go back to my life before a federal agent dragged me to a mental institution. Being a criminal is a lot more fun than catching one."

There are a few minutes of silence after this.

"I don't want you to leave," Olivia says.

"Why?"

"You've been so helpful," she says. "And if you haven't noticed, I've lost three of the most important men in my life in the last year and two of them were my fault. I need you, Peter. I care about you so much, and I couldn't afford to lose you."

"Do you love me?" he asks her, fairly bluntly.

"As a brother and a friend," Olivia says, a bit taken aback by the question.

He nods slowly.

"Okay. After all, why love me when you have a translucent skinned traitor who exists only in your dreams? I understand completely," he says, anger rising again.

"He's gone now. I can't see him anymore, I thought you knew that," she says.

"No one seems to bother telling me anything."

"Oh, like you tell me everything. You keep secrets, Peter Bishop, and I _let_ you keep them because I respect your privacy. So now it's a crime if I don't tell you every detail of my existence?"

She's getting mad too, fed up at his neglected child act, and it's showing in her voice.

"Did I ever say that? I like making sure you're okay! Is that so hard for you to believe? I don't even-" Peter yells, but then buries his face in his hands and doesn't continue.

"You know, maybe I _should_ go," Olivia says. "I don't need this. Go ahead! Leave! See if I care."

She knows she's not being rational and that everything's coming out of the blue, but she's had a very emotional day and month and year, and she's decided to take all of it out on Peter.

He raises his head from his hands and turns to watch her leave.

"Wait!" he says.

She whirls around, fists clenched.

"_What_?" she spits.

But as she looks into those gorgeous blue eyes, her resolve softens a bit.

He gets up and walks over to her.

She tenses again, ready to be hit, but he just pulls her to his chest and kisses the top of her head.

She has no idea how long he holds her like that, rocking slowly from side to side in time to something only he can hear.

He starts singing again, about nothing changing his world, and she knows how untrue it is. In the world they live in, things can change in seconds.

But she doesn't care.

She could die in his arms like that, feeling that warmth, that sudden innocence…

And you know what?

She would die happy.

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**A/N: **Please review!


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